The MCU took a lot of flak in its early days for killing its villains. Iron Monger, Malekith, and Whiplash were just a few of the evildoers who didn't live to see a second movie. However, there's a fate worse than death that some bad guys have had to face: exile.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 focused on Mayor Wilson Fisk tightening his grip on New York City. The Anti-Vigilante Task Force rounded up anyone who crossed its founder, and there was only so much Daredevil could do to fight back. In order to gain the high ground, Matt Murdock decided to step out of the shadows and face his enemy in the court of law.
Fisk took Matt up on his offer to testify in Karen Page's trial because he believed he held all the cards. Well, the titular hero took power back by revealing to the world that he is Daredevil. While Matt gave up his freedom, his actions forced Fisk out of the mayor's office and, more importantly, out of the city.
At the end of Born Again's Season 2 finale, Fisk stood alone on a beach, stuck contemplating all of his choices. But rather than just sulk, he should check in with all of the other villains who have been forced into exile.
MCU Villains Who Have Had To Leave It All Behind
Loki
Being a prince of Asgard wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Loki. In Thor, the God of Mischief was fed up with always playing second fiddle to his brother, so he tried to overthrow his father, Odin. Loki allowed the Frost Giants to enter Asgard, only to betray them and come out of the situation looking like a hero.
When the God of Thunder returned home, he exposed Loki for the fraud he was. Rather than facing the consequences of his actions, Loki disappeared into the cosmos. The Avengers revealed that he came into contact with Thanos during his exile and convinced him to give him enough soldiers to invade Earth.
Hela
Long before Loki was the black sheep of Asgard's royal family, Hela filled the role. She helped Odin conquer the Nine Realms, but the Allfather eventually realized he had created a monster and locked her away. Hela remained trapped in Hel until Odin died in Thor: Ragnarok.
After escaping her prison, Hela wasted no time picking up where she left off. She defeated her brothers, seized control of Asgard, and killed many along the way. However, Hela went down with the ship when Surtur destroyed Asgard, ending her reign of terror for good.
Kang
Loki's variant from the Disney+ series came into contact with He Who Remains at the end of Season 1. The mysterious being's death at the hands of Sylvie unleashed his variants from all across the multiverse, including Kang the Conqueror. In Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, it came to light that Kang had once been part of the Council of Kangs but was banished for betraying them.
Kang took his exile to the Quantum Realm in stride, befriending Janet van Dyne and having her help rebuild his Time Sphere. Janet caught wind of what her new ally was really up to and brought her allies to the Quantum Realm to thwart his plans.
Najma
Kamala Khan had no idea what it meant to put on her grandma's bangle and become a superhero. In Ms. Marvel, Kamala met Kamran, a seemingly nice boy who took an interest in her. Well, it turned out to be a ruse planned by his mother, Najma, the leader of the Clandestines, a group of beings from another dimension.
Najma was exiled from the Noor Dimension for stirring up trouble. And she kept up her nefarious ways when she got to Earth. Kamala helped her see the error of her ways, though, as she sacrificed herself to close the door to the Noor Dimension and save her son.
Red Skull
While the USA focused its efforts on defeating the Nazis during World War II, Johann Schmidt, aka Red Skull, built up HYDRA's operations in the shadows. Steve Rogers caught wind of HYDRA's shenanigans in Captain America: The First Avenger and dedicated his life to bringing the organization down. And at the end of the movie, it seemed like he succeeded when the Tesseract seemingly killed Red Skull.
Avengers: Infinity War not only revealed that Red Skull was still alive but also explained that he had been marooned on the planet Vormir for decades. All that time away from Earth did the villain some good, as he had a whole new attitude when he introduced himself to Thanos and Gamora.
Killmonger
Despite being a good man, Wakanda's King T'Chaka had plenty of skeletons in his closet. The biggest one involved an incident with his brother N'Jobu, whom he killed for wanting to arm the outside world with Wakandan technology. But T'Chaka couldn't cover up all of his tracks because he left his brother's son behind.
While Erik Stevens didn't get exiled from Wakanda in the traditional sense, T'Chaka left the young man with no choice but to force his way into the nation in Black Panther. King T'Challa accepted Killmonger's invitation to fight for the throne, a battle the outsider won. However, Killmoger couldn't win the war, dying as a result of his final confrontation with Black Panther.
Dweller-in-Darkness
Xu Wenwu, the wielder of the Ten Rings, fell in love with a woman named Ying Li from the dimension Ta Lo. They lived happily together for years, until she died. Without his partner by his side, Wenwu began to embrace the darkness, opening the door for an evil being to influence him.
Long before the events of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the Dweller-in-Darkness invaded Ta Lo with its army of monsters. The plan failed, and the residents of the dimension exiled the beast to a mountain. Wenwu helped the Dweller-in-Darkness escape, though, forcing the titular hero to step up to the plate and take out the monster once and for all.
Sinister Strange
The multiverse is a funny place because stand-up individuals can have variants that are just the worst. Stephen Strange faced that problem in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when he crossed paths with another version of himself corrupted by the Darkhold.
Sinister Strange dreamwalked so much that his own universe collapsed, leaving him as the only living being in it. When Earth-616's Doctor Strange paid him a visit, the two faced off in a duel that ended with Sinister Strange's death.
Zeke Stane
The only thing worse than a villain going into exile for their own actions is going into exile for someone else's. Ezekiel Stane didn't want to answer for his father's crimes, so he changed his name to Joe McGillicuddy and tried to live a normal life. But he wasn't careful enough, as Riri Williams discovered the truth about him in Ironheart.
After getting screwed over by Riri, Zeke gave himself cybernetic enhancements and started running with The Hood's crew. The partnership didn't last long, but Zeke didn't walk out of Ironheart ready to return to his self-imposed exile.
